The giants successfully survived the September qualifying matches for Euro 2024

The closed September window for matches of national teams, including in qualifying for the 2024 European Championship, which Germany will host, presented several interesting events. They, however, are not related to the misfires of the giants. The vast majority of them completed this part of the tournament distance without any breakdowns.

Group A

The situation in this group became much simpler after the September matches. Not long ago, the Georgian team hinted that it was ready to fight with the favorites, maybe even for direct access to the European Championship from first or second place, but two consecutive defeats – from the Spaniards and Norwegians – threw it out of the race. The Georgians managed to lose to the Spanish national team at home 1:7, but the central news regarding this match was not the score, but the debut of Lamin Yamal as part of the winners. At that time he was 16 years and 57 days old, and a younger player had never played for the Spanish team. Moreover, Yamal also scored a goal. In the next meeting, in which the Spaniards defeated the Cypriots with the same difference – 6:0, coach Luis de la Fuente, who continues to actively refresh his team, already entrusted the schoolboy from Barcelona with a place in the starting team.

Despite two such big wins, the Spanish team is still in second position in the group. Six points ahead (though with an extra match played) are the still impeccable Scots, who have won five victories in a row. The Norwegians are two points behind the Spaniards (and also played more in the match). As part of the next October window, the Spanish national team will have clashes with their competitors: with the Scottish team – home, with the Norwegian – away.

Group B

In two September rounds, nothing extraordinary happened in this group, and the key match of the tournament, perhaps, turned out to be the one in which the Dutch national team destroyed – 3: 0 – the previously well-held Greeks. As a result, the Dutch were equal to the losers in terms of points scored, but in terms of lost points they were three points ahead of them, taking second place. In the first place are the French, for whom the selection so far has been absolutely cloudless: five wins in five matches.

Group C

Fans of the Italian national team spent a lot of nerves these September days watching their first matches under the leadership of the new coach – Luciano Spalletti, who replaced Roberto Mancini. First, they were forced to remember the embarrassment they experienced in March last year. Then, in the final stage of selection for the Qatari world championship, the Italians were thrown out of it by the Macedonians. Now the North Macedonian team again fiercely resisted the European champions and, having scored in the end, played with them in a draw – 1:1, depriving them of two valuable points. Then the Italians were beaten up by the Ukrainians. And there could have been losses, but the Italian team still beat their opponents – 2:1 – thanks to a double by Davide Frattesi. True, its position still cannot be called super-strong.

The British came away from this group. And six points behind them are three teams: Italian, Macedonian and Ukrainian. The Italians have a match in hand compared to their competitors, but their final calendar is not so simple: for example, it includes away matches with the English and Ukrainian teams.

Group D

September could well turn the Armenian team into a real contender for a direct ticket to the German championship. She needed a little luck. The Armenians held the lead against the Turks for a long time, but played a draw – 1:1, allowing their opponents to win back in the last minutes. With the Croats, everything was decided by a single goal scored by the winners of the Qatari world championship. The Armenian team, located in third position, on par with the Welsh, is three points behind this tandem. The most pleasant arrangement is for Croats. They played a match less, and the meetings with the Turks and Armenians in the second half of the tournament will be home games for them.

Group E

Everything in this group is extremely confusing. First of all, thanks to the Albanian national team, which made it to the 2016 European Championship, and today it is going to repeat that feat. The Albanians were brought closer to it by two September matches: a draw – 1:1 – with the Czechs and a victory – 2:0 – over the Poles going through something like a crisis. The Albanian team after them was at the top of the table, although the gap from their pursuers was small. From the Czechs (they have a match in reserve) and, oddly enough, the still not souring Moldovans – two points, from the Poles – four.

Group F

It seems that in this top five, two teams have already been determined that will definitely go to Germany. The Belgians, despite the radical personnel renewal, who have retained their power, should, in theory, be joined by the Austrians. They most likely achieved decisive success by beating the Swedes away – 3:1. The Swedish team is already seven points behind the leading duo. It looks like a chasm that cannot be jumped over.

Group G

During the September window, the leaders of this group played. The Hungarians beat the Serbs 2:1 and can look to the future with confidence. They have the same number of points as the Serbian national team, but one match less. Two points behind this team are the Montenegrins, who were given a bitter pill by the Lithuanian players who saved themselves from defeat at the end of stoppage time. That draw could be fatal for the Montenegro team.

Group H

There are six teams in this group, and at this moment only two have been removed from the fight for tickets to the European Championship – the “dwarfs” of Sanmarin and for some reason the amazingly helpless Northern Irish. Everyone else is desperately trying to get tickets, and the density of the table is exceptional. At the top with 13 points are the Slovenes and Danes, followed by the Kazakhs, a surprise qualification, and the Finns with 12 points. The calendar primarily favors the Danish national team. She has two away matches against outsiders, and will host the Kazakh and Slovenian teams.

Group I

In this group, the match between the national teams of Romania and Kosovo took place on Tuesday. During it, Kosovo football players left the field after seeing a banner hung by Romanian fans in the stands. It read: “Kosovo is Serbia.” The guests were able to return to the lawn after about an hour. There were other incidents during the match, due to which the Romanian national team will apparently have to go without spectators at home matches for some time.

In this match, she prevailed over her opponent with a score of 2:0 and saved good chances for a ticket to the European championship. The Romanians are two points behind the Swiss and one ahead of the Israelis. Apart from these three teams, no one can count on getting into the top two.

Group J

The Portuguese national team, which did not lose points, won one difficult victory in September – 1:0 over the Slovaks – and one enchantingly easy victory – 9:0 over the Luxembourgers. However, despite such a humiliating defeat, the recently improved team from a tiny state, which dealt with the strong Icelanders before the Portuguese collapse, is still seriously fighting for the right to play at the European Championship. She is in third place, and the Slovaks, the closest pursuers of the Portuguese, are only three points away. At the same time, in October the Luxembourg national team plays the Slovak team at home.

Alexey Dospehov